Commissioner Tipper offered some history on last year's bill. The bill was introduced, but it became immediately apparent that stakeholders were too far apart for passage. Stakeholder meetings were to resume after session, but the pandemic prevented discussions from proceeding. There were multiple concerns with the act and moving the bill to introduction will require a lot of work, which makes it unlikely for this next session. Commissioner Scott concurred and stated that the stakeholders have very strong feelings about the act and cannot see achieving consensus by January. There was a bill introduced last year regarding surrogacy, but it, like many others, was sidelined by the pandemic.
Marie Avery Moses, Co-chair of the CBA Family Law Section and Legislative Chair of the CBA, said that the CBA appreciates the goals of the act but it is intended for states that do not already have the broad protections for non-biological parents that Colorado already has. Concerns include that the act actually narrows some of Colorado's definitions, so the section will want to be involved in stakeholder meetings and work with drafters so that they can support the bill into the future while protecting the parentage rights of as many as possible.
The commission thanked Ms. Moses for her commitment to the process, her detailed list of concerns with the act, and all of her hard work on the bill. The commission determined that a new draft would be needed for continued stakeholder involvement and discussed moving forward this year with the act's provisions that do have support – assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and rights of children born through assisted reproduction technology provisions – in order to strengthen Colorado law in those areas.
Commissioner Morris moved to draft a bill with sections 7, 8, and 9 of the Uniform Parentage Act. Commissioner Scott seconded and the motion passed without objection. Commissioner Scott volunteered to work with stakeholders
